“Snake”

A scaly surprise
slithering from stone and sticks
to sleuth through shadows.

This little guy slithered out from my fire pit as I was lounging in my backyard.

The fire pit wasn’t lit, obviously, but it was still quite the surprise. My dog didn’t quite know what to make of this non-venomous and mostly passive snake, but I got him away so we could let the critter be.

Steve D